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Eminem Mixes Up 2Pac

Rapper produces album from Shakur's unreleased material

November 4, 2004 12:00 AM ET
Eminem has produced Loyal to the Game, the seventh Tupac Shakur album since the rapper was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas eight years ago. Due out December 14th, the album will feature sixteen tracks built around Shakur's previously unreleased raps. 50 Cent, Obie Trice, Jadakiss, Young Buck, Lloyd Banks and Ronald Isley also added guest vocals.

Eminem and Shakur's posthumous partnership began with "Runnin' (Dying to Live)," a track Eminem produced for last year's Tupac: Resurrection film. Eminem won over Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur, who initially opposed the idea of him working on the track.

"[Dr.] Dre told me that Eminem wouldn't change anything," Afeni told Rolling Stone at the time. "My choice was to say to Dre, 'You don't know what you're talking about,' or take a chance. And I'm glad that I did, because when [Eminem] finished the song I could see his vision. It took me a while because I'm fifty-six-years-old and I'm not a hip-hop expert, so I didn't understand the genius of what was before me. When I did, me and my whole family were blown away."

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